Honda Motor and General Motors are to develop a joint fuel cell system manufacturing in Michigan, USA, which will provide working fuel cell-cars in 2020. This is the first public outcome of a fuel-cell cooperation agreement both producers signed in July 2013.
The new factory will be established in the border of General Motor’s existing battery production facility at Brownsville, with both Honda and GM plunge $85 million into the joint venture. It will lead to the creation of 100 new jobs.
While both business have dealt with competing firms in the past, this is the first time that a complete fuel cell system has been developed jointly, including tank, valves, fuel-cell membranes and control electronics.
The objective of the project is to lower expenses and the volume of fuel cell drivelines, especially the storage of gaseous hydrogen on board the car, which has shown one of the hardest expenses to decrease. Honda and GM are dedicated to working on typical sourcing as well as decreasing economies of scale through common development and production.
Both automakers have lead research into fuel cells at different times, while GM has Sequel project, Honda has FCX Clarity. It has been commonly known that Honda had been holding off the advancement of a replacement for its existing Clarity fuel cell car, this is the first time that its replacement has been hinted at.
It is anticipated that Honda will have the replacement on the road by 2020 to accompany the Tokyo Olympics, which the Japanese Government has decreed will be the first such occasion to be powered by hydrogen.
The first six examples of the present version showed up in Europe in November 2016 and are being used in London and Copenhagen as part of the Hydrogen for Innovative Vehicles (HyFIVE) presentation task
The Clarity is the first fuel cell-powered saloon to house the whole stack underneath the bonnet, enabling greater interior space.
